Chapter 67: Flaw

Behind the red curtains, the female Paper Person on the wedding bed had somehow turned its head and was now staring at her; even more terrifyingly, the female Paper Person actually had a face identical to her own.

Its body was still that of a Paper Person, but its face had changed. Su Tingting was so startled she nearly jumped, but when she turned to look at the Paper Person, that face had vanished again.

It wasn't just the face; all abnormalities had disappeared, including that chilling sensation of being watched, which had dissipated without a sound. The female Paper Person lay quietly flat on the wedding bed, motionless, as if everything before had been a hallucination.

Summoning her courage, Su Tingting turned around again, daring only to scan the Bronze Mirror with her peripheral vision. This time, the image in the mirror had also changed; the female Paper Person was lying obediently on the bed, no different from when she had first boarded the boat.

Yet even so, Su Tingting knew that what had just happened was absolutely not a hallucination. Yang Xiao had warned her that terrifying things were highly likely to occur during the process of blowing on the Incense, and it seemed now that his words were true. Thinking back, the snapping sound she had heard earlier was likely the sound of the female Paper Person twisting its own neck.

For some reason—perhaps because she had experienced so much, or perhaps because she no longer held expectations for survival—Su Tingting was now unexpectedly calm. Remembering Yang Xiao's words, she slowly crouched down before the Incense Burner and continued to blow air onto the leftmost stick of Incense.

She had to make these three sticks of Incense burn into a pattern of two short and one long; even if she could not survive, she had to create a glimmer of hope for Yang Xiao outside.

The Paper Lantern she had brought onto the boat was placed right by her feet. Once the final situation became irredeemable, she would burn this boat and perish together with these ghostly things.

After blowing out another breath, the burning speed of the Incense on both sides visibly accelerated, but following closely behind was that familiar, icy gaze.

Unable to stop herself from shivering, Su Tingting glanced at the mirror surface again with her peripheral vision, but strangely, the female Paper Person on the bed had not changed this time.

It wasn't her?

The situation had changed again. Su Tingting turned around and her gaze began to search the not-so-large cabin, but after a full sweep, she found no abnormalities.

Unwilling to give up, she looked at the Bronze Mirror again, constantly adjusting the angle to use the mirror to check every corner of the cabin, until the mirror surface swept past the male Paper Person behind the cabin door.

For just a fleeting moment, Su Tingting froze. The male Paper Person in the mirror clearly hadn't moved; it was still sitting cross-legged on the ground with a red bridal veil on its head, yet she inexplicably felt something was strange.

A moment later, Su Tingting finally spotted the problem: there was an inexplicable, large protrusion on the back of the male Paper Person's head under the red veil, and those protruding edges... were clearly a face!

Like the female Paper Person before it, the male Paper Person had quietly turned its head and was now staring at her silently.

Just then, a gust of ghostly wind blew through, instantly dimming the candlelight. The shadow the male Paper Person cast on the wall flickered like black smoke, and the next second, under Su Tingting's terrified gaze, the shadow actually broke free from the Paper Person's constraints and stood up, swaying.

Yang Xiao was unaware of the situation inside the cabin, and he had no time to spare to worry about it; he was currently following closely behind the Paper Man Boat.

These Paper Man Boats had surrounded Kuang Hongyi, but fortunately, these things seemed to fear the Boxi Boat in the center and dared not get too close, which gave Kuang Hongyi room to maneuver the boat; otherwise, he would have been swarmed and torn to pieces long ago.

However, even so, Kuang Hongyi clearly could not hold on for much longer. Several Paper Man Boats were slowly closing in on him, and the rest were also restless.

Yang Xiao knew these things were waiting—waiting for the Ghost Fetus to crawl out of Su Tingting's stomach, waiting for the fourth drumbeat. By then, the situation would be beyond saving.

His teammates were bearing immense pressure for him, and he could not let everyone down. During this time, Yang Xiao had been observing—observing these Paper Man Boats while also searching for Shi Dali's location. Only by finding this bastard tonight would everyone have a glimmer of hope.

Based on his observations, he discovered something very interesting: these Paper Man Boats looked different from the front and from the back.

Viewed from the front, these Paper Man Boats were mostly obscured by Ghost Mist, making it almost impossible to see the boundary between the boat and the water, as if one were in the underworld. Viewed from the back, although there was still mist lingering, it was much clearer; at least the waterline could be seen.

And it was precisely this difference that led Yang Xiao to discover the peculiarity: these small boats carrying the Paper People sat very shallow in the water, almost floating on the surface.

But thinking about it, it was understandable; after all, they were Paper People, how heavy could they be? But Paper People had no weight, and how could a living person have no weight? Yang Xiao immediately realized the flaw: the small boat carrying Shi Dali must have the deepest draft!

With his thoughts cleared, he began to act. Yang Xiao rowed his boat gently, moving slowly behind these Paper Man Boats, carefully observing the draft depth of each one.

Not long after, he actually found a clue: amidst the swirling mist, a gray-black small boat carrying four Paper People had a draft depth clearly deeper than the surrounding boats.

But before Yang Xiao could feel happy, he soon discovered another anomaly: it wasn't just this one. He found another boat nearby with a deep draft, and in the end, he found a total of 4 such boats.

These four boats were not far from each other, and the arrangement of the Paper People on the boats, as well as the structure and the age of the boats, were almost identical. If not for their different positions, they would be hard to distinguish.

Yang Xiao cursed inwardly; the people the Feng Family hired were truly insidious. It seemed they also knew that the boat's draft would reveal a flaw, so they arranged four boats in a row. The real Shi Dali was hidden among the Paper People on one of these boats, while the other three had extra ballast added.

However, fortunately, he had the general direction. Yang Xiao decided to start with the Paper People on these boats. Each boat had 4 Paper People, totaling 16. To maintain the balance of the boat, Shi Dali could not be standing at the bow or stern; he had to be hidden in the middle, which eliminated 8, leaving only the last 8 Paper People.

But the insidious part was that these last eight Paper People were all sitting, and their surroundings were fixed with some inconspicuous wooden frames. This way, the wind couldn't move them, and Shi Dali, hidden among them, could sit comfortably and wouldn't get tired in a short time.

"The Feng Family deserves to die; all this talent is used on crooked paths." Cursing under his breath, Yang Xiao's gaze wandered incessantly over the 8 Paper People in the middle. He didn't have much time left.

The situation on Kuang Hongyi's side was becoming increasingly critical. Some Paper Man Boats could no longer resist the temptation and began to close in on him. Kuang Hongyi had no way out now; he was less than 5 meters away from the Boxi Boat. If the enemy got any closer, he would have no choice but to climb onto the Boxi Boat.

And ever since Su Tingting boarded the boat, Kuang Hongyi had not heard her voice again. The boat was deathly silent, and whether she was dead or alive was still unknown.